Employment Cost Trends

Employment Cost Index News Release

Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-10-0535
8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, April 30, 2010
Technical information:
(202) 691-6199 NCSinfo@bls.gov http://www.bls.gov/ect
Media contact:
(202) 691-5902 PressOffice@bls.gov
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(NOTE: Employment Cost Index data from June 2009 through September 2010 have been found to contain errors in
several data series and will be corrected in the public database available on the BLS website. This news
release will not be corrected. The primary errors are in wage and salary data for State and local government
public administration. Additional series are subject to correction as well. For further information see:
www.bls.gov/bls/eci_corrections_111910.htm.)
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EMPLOYMENT COST INDEX - MARCH 2010
Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.6 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period
ending March 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries (which make up about
70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.4 percent while benefits (which make up the remaining 30 percent
of compensation)--increased 1.1 percent.
Civilian Worker Data
Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 1.7 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2010.
This was smaller than the 2.1 percent increase for the 12-month period ending in March 2009. Wages and salaries
increased 1.5 percent for the current 12-month period, slowing from a 2.2 percent increase for the 12-month
period ending in March 2009. Benefit costs rose 2.2 percent, compared with a 2.0 percent increase for the
12-month period ending March 2009.
Private Industry Worker Data
Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 1.6 percent, compared to 1.9 percent for the
12-month period ending March 2009. The wage and salary series increased 1.5 percent for the current 12-month
period, compared to 2.0 percent for the period ending March 2009. The cost of benefits increased 2.0 percent for
the 12-month period ending March 2010 primarily due to increases in the cost of health benefits and defined benefit
retirement plans. In March 2009, benefits increased 1.6 percent. Employer costs for health benefits increased
4.5 percent for the 12-month period ending March 2010. In March 2009, the 12-month percent change was 4.6 percent.
Among occupational groups, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the 12-month period
ending March 2010 ranged from 1.3 percent for management, professional, and related occupations to 2.1 percent
for natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations.
Among industries, compensation cost increases for private industry workers for the current 12-month period
ranged from 1.0 percent for professional and business services to 2.8 percent for financial activities.
State and Local Government Workers
Compensation costs for State and local government workers increased 2.0 percent for the 12-month period ending
March 2010. Prior published values ranged from 2.3 to 9.6 percent since the series began in June 1982. Wages and
salaries increased 1.8 percent. Prior published values ranged from 1.9 to 8.5 percent since the series began, also
in June 1982. Benefit costs increased 2.7 percent. Prior published values ranged from 1.2 to 8.3 percent since
the series began in June 1990.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Employment Cost Index for June 2010 is scheduled to be released on Friday, July 30, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request--
Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.
This release incorporates annual revisions in seasonally adjusted Employment Cost Index (ECI) data for total
compensation, wages and salaries, and benefit costs. Seasonally adjusted data for 2005-2009 were revised to reflect
updated seasonal factors.
BLS news releases, including the ECI, are available through an e-mail subscription service at:
www.bls.gov/bls/list.htm.
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Table A. Major series of the Employment Cost Index
(Percent change)
Category 3-month, seasonally adjusted 12-month, not seasonally adjusted
Dec. 2009 Mar. 2010 Mar. 2009 Jun. 2009 Sep. 2009 Dec. 2009 Mar. 2010
CIVILIAN WORKERS1
Compensation2 0.4 0.6 2.1 1.8 1.5 1.5 1.7
Wages and salaries 0.5 0.4 2.2 1.8 1.5 1.5 1.5
Benefits 0.5 1.1 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.5 2.2
PRIVATE INDUSTRY
Compensation2 0.4 0.6 1.9 1.5 1.2 1.2 1.6
Wages and salaries 0.5 0.4 2.0 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.5
Benefits 0.3 1.4 1.6 1.3 1.1 1.0 2.0
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Compensation2 0.5 0.4 3.1 3.2 2.4 2.4 2.0
Wages and salaries 0.5 0.4 3.0 3.0 2.1 2.0 1.8
Benefits 0.9 0.3 3.4 3.6 3.2 3.2 2.7
1 Includes private industry and state and local government.
2 Includes wages and salaries and benefits.

TECHNICAL NOTE
The Employment Cost Index (ECI) measures the change in the cost of labor, free from the influence of employment
shifts among occupations and industries. Detailed information on survey concepts, coverage, and methods can be found in
BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 8, "National Compensation Measures," Bureau of Labor Statistics, on the Internet at
www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch8.pdf.
Sample size
Data for the March 2010 reference period were collected from a probability sample of approximately 63,300 occupational
observations selected from a sample of about 13,300 establishments in private industry and approximately 11,600 occupations
from a sample of about 1,800 establishments in State and local governments.
Health insurance data
Data from the ECI that provides 12-month percent changes in employer costs for health insurance in private industry
are also available at www.bls.gov/ect/sp/echealth.pdf.
Historical listings
Historical listings that provide all ECI data are available at www.bls.gov/ect/#tables. Included among these
listings is one that provides continuous occupational and industry series. This listing uses the Standard Industrial
Classification Manual and Census of Population series through 2005 and the North American Industry Classification
System and Standard Occupational Classification from 2006 to the present. It provides the official series from the
beginning of the ECI in 1975 through the current quarter. For more information on the criteria used in defining continuous
series, see the article published in the Monthly Labor Review at www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/04/art2full.pdf.
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation data
The costs per hour worked of compensation components, based on data from the ECI, are published in a separate news
release titled "Employer Costs for Employee Compensation" (ECEC). The next ECEC release is scheduled for 10:00 AM EDT,
Wednesday, June 9, 2010. Historical ECEC data are available in summary documents. Since the ECEC is calculated with
current employment weights rather than the fixed weights used in computing the ECI, year-to-year changes in the cost
levels usually differ from those in the ECI.